


The Things We Can't Control

by LionLadyBee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Main Pairs Come Later, marriage law
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22851907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LionLadyBee/pseuds/LionLadyBee
Summary: A new wizarding law has passed, leaving a generation of witches and wizards subjected to having to rethink their entire life choices.
Relationships: Lavender Brown/Seamus Finnigan, Millicent Bulstrode/Padma Patil, Pansy Parkinson/Ron Weasley, Tracey Davis/Harry Potter
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. The Marriage Law Pt. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am not JK Rowling, and none of the characters or setting or world of Harry Potter belongs to me.  
> **I want to thank NotSoSirius92 for being here with me on this journey as the best Beta and Alpha a girl could ask for and helping to make this piece everything it is now.**  
> **  
> This piece was written for the Facebook Group The Fairest of the Rare for Love Fest 2020. This was written as a gift for the entire group. Its the start of a marriage law and well..there are a bunch of those who love one.  
> #LF2020 #TeamEros
> 
> Edited Note: Unfortunately, I have to add that I changed who I had in mind for my main pairings and so they are no longer a Rare Pair - my love for rare pairs is still very much valid and Love Fest was still crucial in the writing of this story. But with editing and re writes and finishing- it turned out to not be so rare after all. 
> 
> As I release more chapters I will begin to update as to which relationships/pairs the story pertains too.

Hermione looked at the bride and groom before her and heaved a deep sigh. Lately, time for her seemed to be passing by far too quickly. It had been four months, two weeks, and twenty-two hours since her life was forever changed. She had honestly never envisioned herself making it through the war. Yet, here she was, in the flesh. Shortly after Harry had defeated the Dark Lord, Kingsley was appointed Minister of Magic. Then, the wizarding world had been brought to its knees by one horrible decision. 

* * *

“Attention! Settle down, settle down! We need everyone to remain calm and collected. We have some very important information to announce to everyone today.” Kingsley’s voice boomed over the throng. Hermione noted the stubble shadowing his cheeks, and he looked as though he had not slept in days, maybe even weeks. 

“The Wizengamot has spent several weeks in deep discussion. So, after much debate...” He began to trail off -and it seemed he was in pain- at having to deliver this message. 

“Look, I am struggling with this myself. I do not have all the answers, or know how to best tell everyone this when I, myself, am clearly so affected by this. So, I am going to just be honest with everyone.” At this point, he started mumbling nervously, and this had Hermione especially on high alert. Harry, Ron, and Ginny, each nodded at her in a ‘ _ we feel the same way’ _ gesture.

“A new marriage act has been passed. It was not an easy decision, and it certainly was not something the Wizengamot took lightly. Some of you are going to be wondering what this means for you exactly. So, let me begin by going over what this means before mass panic ensues.” 

“Firstly, everyone affected has six months to find their potential partner. We have hopes that couples will start to procreate and increase the population of our wizarding community. If you notice,” he began to point at all the people in the room, waving his arms about as he was talking.

“Those around you, we have every able-bodied wizard and witch from Scotland, England, and the rest of the United Kingdom in the room today. Take note, there are not many of us here. Unfortunately, that happens during a time of war. The population has been decimated.” 

He took a breath and let this part of his message sink in. The entire room was silent. Hermione did her best to not scoff at how ridiculous this whole thing was, she was not happy about this at all. She still had plans to make, places she wanted to explore and sites to see. This news did not bode well for her. 

“Secondly, we have decided that it is time for our wizarding community to put all prejudices behind us, and we want it to be known that all wizards and witches are going to be accepted- Purebloods, Half-bloods and Muggle-borns alike. There is an opportunity here for wizards and witches to marry who they so choose. We are even going to be the first wizarding nation to accept marriages and partnerships of the same sex.” 

At this Kingsley took a very long pause. Hermione knew that same-sex couples were a thing- the Muggle government was willing to accept them, however, it was still taboo amongst the Wizarding community. Murmurs could be heard scattered throughout the quiet room. He continued once silence fell over the crowd once more.

“Third, every month the ministry will choose a destination and a different theme where every eligible wizard and witch will be invited to come to a ball. This will go on for exactly six months until it is proven that proper steps have been taken by those in this room to ensure viable marriages are established.” He did not pause very long this time, as he knew this next bit of information would be the cause for the most upset, so he decided to give them a bit of hope first. 

“Finally, please know that I, along with the rest of the Wizengamot, have taken all possible outcomes, protests, and observations into consideration. We truly believe we will be able to grow our population and further strengthen our community. I just want to stress that we ultimately wanted to give each and every one of you the option to choose the person you will be with for the rest of your life. Let me hand it over to Donna Macmillan now, and she will finish with the explanations and answer any questions.” 

At this Hermione squirmed in her seat, having no intentions of hearing from this lady. She felt she owed it to Ron and Harry to listen since she knew they would not catch a single word. 

The woman was shot and bore a striking resemblance to Ernie, a Hufflepuff who she knew from her Hogwarts days. They had the same eyes and hair color. She wore a blue dress with the signature plum-colored Wizengamot dress robes with a silver ‘W’ embroidered on the right breast. Her lipstick was an ugly blue color that Hermione found distasteful. When she opened her mouth, she had a very squeaky voice. 

“I just wanted to come before everyone today to tell you that sometimes, having to marry young is a good thing. and sometimes it's not. But, you will be with your spouse for the rest of your life. They will be someone to confide in, someone to love through the good times and the bad. Someone who will be going through exactly what you are. For me, my marriage was an arranged marriage based on pureblood customs. Eventually, I learned to love my husband... but it was not easy. I hope that we have finally gotten something right by changing the tradition of our fathers, and that you all will have a very bright future. With that said, I am officially releasing everyone for the time being.” 

The crowd flowed out into the main lobby area. Once they were all together again Ron said “Can you believe this! The last thing I wanted to do was to get married. We just bloody took out You-Know-Who for Merlin's sake.” 

“Ron, it is not like everyone was praying for this. Merlin knows I was supposed to work my way up the ministry and become Minister of Magic before I even got married. They want kids out of this. I do not know about you guys, but I am not going to be forced to have children.” Hermione scoffed. She had plans and she did not want anyone or anything to get in her way. 

Ginny, always being the positive one, piped up. “Well let’s face it, it could have gone a lot worse for us as Kingsley said. You know, I have heard talks that the Wizarding community in America was subjected to forced marriages with people they did not even know. And they had to keep it a secret that they were witches and Wizards. Can you imagine being stuck with someone like Crabbe or Goyle for the rest of your life?” The redhead made a disgusted face, pulling a laugh from her gathered friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story and for all the reviews or kudos you may end up leaving. I appreciate every single one of you!


	2. The Marriage Law Pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not JK Rowling, and none of the characters or setting or world of Harry Potter belongs to me.  
> **I want to thank NotSoSirius92 for being here with me on this journey as the best Beta and Alpha a girl could ask for and helping to make this piece everything it is now.**  
> **  
> This piece was written for the Facebook Group The Fairest of the Rare for Love Fest 2020. Originally it was in separated parts. This was written as a gift for the entire group. #LF2020 #TeamEros
> 
> As I release more chapters I will begin to update as to which relationships/pairs the story pertains too.

_ After The New Marriage Law Announcement- Summer of 2000  
  
_ The war tore down a lot of prejudices that the different sides had towards each other. Purebloods stopped using words like  _ “mudblood” _ , and calling people filth because of where they came from, and had started accepting them more. 

For the Trio, they looked upon to mend the bridges between the two sides.

Harry, being the ever gallant leader that he was, happened to be the first to take a chance and break the ice by doing the unexpected - marrying Tracey Davis. No one saw it coming. The two of them saw their union as a way to be the first to cut the invisible line of intermingling that none of their friends had ever wanted to cross. They dated for a single month before they decided to sit everyone down together, and, rather awkwardly explained that they had been dating each other ever since the first ball and decided they were it for each other. So they got married, rather quickly before anything else could be sprung upon them by the ministry. 

Ginny's reaction was the most shocking - she was the first to get up and gave the couple a hug and well wishes. She had always held out hope that she and Harry would end up back together one day. The war had put a strain on their relationship, resulting in a separation. Ginny had thought t hat they had just needed time to pick up the pieces, and to overturn the law - in the end, she realized things were not going to be the same as they had been.  It was also during this break that Harry met Tracey. Harry and Ginny had a night of laughs together and he explained everything to her before the rest of his family and friends. 

The news that shocked Hermione the most came shortly after Harry and Tracey dropped their relationship bomb. Ronald decided it was a great time as any to also be open and honest with his friends and family about who he was now involved with.  Hermione nearly fell out of her chair when Ron announced his engagement to Pansy Parkinson. She was not upset about the fact that it was Pansy, s he'd just never imagined them being compatible with one another.

Thinking of Ron made Hermione analyze her relationship with her friend. They'd never quite worked out the way she'd hoped, and the feelings she'd held for him were tarnished by war and regret .  She found that most couples that were together before and during the war, suffered similar circumstances - Harry and Ginny being the prime example of this .  Hermione thought of all of the ridiculous rows she'd witnessed between Ron and Pansy with an exasperated fondness. She even once joked about the time that Pansy threw a book at Ron's head because he called her “mental”, and that had everyone at their engagement party laughing. It really showed how things were starting to turn for everyone. 

After the second engagement party, Ginny and Hermione decided they were  weary of more surprises . So, Ginny and Hermione made plans to meet the next day. It was a rather dull meeting of sobs, eating food that did nothing to help their shapes stay intact, and talk about their abruptly transforming lives. Passerbyers could hear them confessing they each felt a sensation of drowning out at sea alone, because they just hadn't found anyone they wanted to match with. The one thing that helped them, was a touch of alcohol to take off the edge. 

* * *

**Two months had gone by and Harry, Tracy, Ron and Pansy were now celebrating. Several other marriages that no one saw coming had also went off without a hitch, except of course, for Hermione and Ginny. 

On one particular night, Hermione found herself drinking a glass of champagne at the wedding reception of Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan. 

Hermione had been to four of those bloody Ministry balls by now and she had no luck with any of the men she had met there. They were either too dull for her to be kept interested, too to see in a romantic way, or could not keep up with her intelligence. She was convinced that no one would measure up to her as a potential match. She had made her way back to a table that was covered in a blue cloth and silver plates, with pink roses blooming in the centerpieces - and sat with Ginny. They both continued to drink far too much, reverting back into the age-old conversation of having to be matched - to heck with all the new marriages.    
  
“You know Gin, If we do not meet any suitable wizards by the time the initial six months is up- we could marry each other,” she said. 

Ginny gasped. “Hermione, what are you babbling about? We can not possibly get married to each other. First, the law would never allow it, and second, neither one of us is really into that kind of thing.” 

Hermione smirked “You mean to tell me that you did not enjoy Millies and Padma’s wedding? They were able to get married because of this law, you must have missed the part in the law that said same-sex couples could marry with intentions of adopting from the muggle world. 

  
“I forgot all about that one. I was extremely smashed on mimosas and I ended up going home with Draco that night, remember?” Ginny said.    
  
“Ugh, do not remind me. I can not believe him. He may swear to you that nothing happened but I find that extremely difficult, this is Malfoy after all,” Hermione groaned.    
  
“I told you, I woke up the next morning in his bed while he had taken the couch. I really don’t think we did anything. He said he brought me home so that no other bloke would take advantage of me, because if Pansy had, and I quote, “to bail Ron out of jail for killing someone before the wedding” well, and I quote again, “she would kill everyone involved” and that was something he said he did not want to deal with. He did walk her down the aisle, after all,” Ginny exclaimed.    
  
“I suppose that is true. You know I have yet to see him at any of those bloody balls, is he by chance dating someone he intends to marry?” Hermione inquired.    
  
“Hmm, that is a good question. As far as I know Mione, him and Blaise are each dating someone, although no one knows who.” Ginny said.    
  
“Do you think that it is a rouse to skirt around this stupid law? It would not be the first time we have seen this.” Hermione asked.    
  
“You know I really am not sure. It has not worked out for us, yet.” Ginny added, “Then again, You are the Brightest Witch of our age, and I am the Sister of one of the Golden Trio so, of course, all eyes are on us now. I have a feeling it is going to be like this for the rest of our lives. And with  _ that _ realization; I am getting another drink, be right back.”    
  
Hermione sat there, feeling as if someone was watching her. However, every which way she looked, no one was looking back at her. Feeling like this party was not going anywhere, she got up, ready to leave. That was until Lavender and Seamus made an announcement. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story and for all the reviews or kudos you may end up leaving. I appreciate every single one of you!


End file.
